A New River for Leo

We are now moored at Pershore on the River Avon - that is the Stratford Avon not the Bristol one.

Last Wednesday we left Sharpness and headed back towards Gloucester, staying the night at the beautifully named Splatt Bridge.

At Purton we stopped to look at a collection of hulks.  At this point the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal runs right beside the Severn and, to protect the embankment between the two, a number of concrete barges were deliberately sunk along the river bank.  Amazingly the rudder on one of them still turned.





Having moored at Splatt Bridge we went out for a ride on our bikes but it soon started raining and we got so wet that we lit the fire on our return to dry our clothes.

On Thursday we carried on back to Gloucester where this time we were able to moor in the Docks.  We visited the folk museum in the afternoon.  One room was about the river.  Did you know that a sturgeon could grow to nearly 12 feet long?  No, neither did we.

This was an old puppet theatre ideal for children to play with.   Guess whose head you can just see.

The building which houses the folk museum is a splendid Tudor wooden house.













On Friday we visited Susan, who used to teach at Westfield School where Helen worked.  Susan lives in Monmouth so we caught the train to Chepstow and then she picked us up.  It was a lovely scenic train journey with views across the Severn to Sharpness and we enjoyed our day with Susan.  She took us on a walk through the country to the town and then back up a very steep hill back to her house.

The famous bridge over the River Monnow still has its medieval gateway.  Susan and Helen are looking out to the left over the river.


















Saturday we hired a car and drove to Swansea to see Helen's cousin Bob and family.  It was good to see them while we are so far South and we even managed lunch on the beach at Oxwich Bay on the Gower.

It was back to boating on Sunday when we went down the lock at Gloucester and fought the strong current on the Severn in the Eastern Channel.

This photo is looking back towards Gloucester Lock with Pas Mèche just coming out onto the River.  The weir is to the right and the current whips round this corner so the strategy is to come out pretty fast and keep the revs high.

Difficult to see but this is a post in the river to mark an obstruction.  Look at the timber wedged against it.  This gives some idea of the excess water and debris which was coming down the River only a few days ago.  Though it had gone down, the River was still about 2 or 3 feet higher than when we went down to Gloucester.

Because of the current we thought it would take us ages to get back upriver to Tewkesbury but we managed it in just over 4 hours which was better than expected.  Here we are just turning off the Severn onto the Avon.

Half a mile or so up the Avon you meet the first lock at Tewkesbury.  Here we are coming into land at the lock pontoon with an old mill behind us.











We had time on Sunday to look round Tewkesbury which is a very attractive town of three main streets full of lovely old houses.

This is the High Street.

And here is the famous Abbey which was purchased by the town from Henry VIII at the dissolution of the monasteries for £453 and is now used as the parish church.

The Abbey is one of the finest Norman churches we've seen and the tower is the tallest Norman tower surviving anywhere.

Outside the cathedral is this bronze called 'Touching Soles'.  The 'yarn bombers' have been active around here and the woollen garlands seem to add to the piece.










Having bought a 14 day licence (the Avon is privately managed by a charity) we set off on Monday to explore this new river.

The Avon has lower banks than the Severn and thus better views.  The hill in the distance is Bredon Hill, but more of that later.

The first lock on the Avon has a lock keeper so Strensham Lock was our first Avon lock to work ourselves.  When we got close to the lock we had to back out because it is hidden and there were two boats already coming down.

Above Strensham Lock we stopped to take on water.  This crazy and courageous duck pestered us repeatedly while we did so.  She seems determined here to find out what is going on.

Eckington Bridge is one of several medieval bridges with narrow arches and fast currents rushing through.  You need to ensure you are set up squarely to the arch before trying to go through.

The next lock is Nafford which has a swing bridge over the top.  Make sure you open the bridge before filling the lock!

Gloucester and South was full of seagulls and we hadn't seen any geese for a few days.  Geese make very good parents.  Look how Mum or Dad is keeping watch.









We moored last night at Comberton Quay and decided to walk up Bredon Hill in the afternoon.  It is 980 feet high and has wonderful views of the Malverns, the Cotswolds and some more hills towards Birmingham.  There was a grey smudge over Wales where the Black Mountains might be.

This is the top of Bredon Hill looking North West to the Malvern Hills.

And this is looking more North East over the plains of the rivers Severn and Avon.  Leo is down there somewhere.

After a more circuitous route up the Hill, some chaps on the top told us of a more direct route down.  They did say it was steep and they were certainly right there!


















So after an energetic day yesterday we've come just a few miles today to Pershore which is very like a smaller version of Tewkesbury.  There is a lovely mooring by a park close to town and we have decided to stay this evening.

Pershore has two bridges.  This is the old one and the river flow accelerates through it to a surprising extent.  They recommend not going through here when the river is flowing hard.

A large tree in the Abbey grounds has been carved on both sides.  It is called 'Leafing through History'.  Notice the fox and the butterflies.

This is all that remains of Pershore Abbey, like Tewkesbury now used as a church.  Where the flying buttresses are there used to be a long nave but now only the South transept, the tower and the Eastern end are left standing.  It is nevertheless an imposing building.















Over the next few days we will be working our way up the Avon through Evesham to Stratford.  Subject to rain swelling the river and delaying us we are looking forward to what is coming.